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• Wall Street experienced a sell-off on Friday following a strong U.S. jobs report, with the S&P 500 closing down 1.5%, Nasdaq down 1.6%, and the Dow Jones down 1.6%. The U.S. monthly employment report was released with stronger-than-expected data. New job additions were 256,000, against expectations of 165,000; the unemployment rate was 4.1%, versus the expected 4.2%. AUD/USD was near 0.6190 before the announcement and fell to a low of 0.6139 after, its lowest level since 2020.
• The USD was well supported, with the 10-year yield rising to a high of 4.78%, before giving back some of the post-FOMC gains, settling at 4.73%. Notably, the market is now pricing the next full Fed rate cut in October, rather than the previously expected June.
• Brent crude oil rose 2.4% to $78.50/bbl following Trump’s comments that “all hell will break loose in the Middle East if Hamas doesn’t release hostages.” Later, a report suggesting U.S. sanctions would affect Russian oil flows pushed Brent crude above $80/barrel for the first time since October, up 4.7% on the day.
• Asian equities ended Friday lower, with Shenzhen down 1.3%, Nikkei down 1.1%, and Hang Seng down 0.9%. The Australian stock market performed relatively better, down only 0.4%, with a 0.9% rise in materials offsetting a 1.2% decline in financials.
• European stock markets opened mostly flat but closed lower, with the DAX down 0.5%, Euro Stoxx 50 down 0.8%, and FTSE 100 down 0.8%.
Here are the latest mid-market rates:
Currency Pair | Mid-market Rate |
---|---|
NZD/USD | 0.5567 |
NZD/AUD | 0.9041 |
NZD/JPY | 87.57 |
NZD/CNY | 4.0930 |
NZD/EUR | 0.5435 |
NZD/GBP | 0.4567 |
NZD/HKD | 4.3341 |
NZD/SGD | 0.7630 |
Char of the day